Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1887-02-20

serve the fertility q he balance q his
farm generally neing hftIe o. no clo-
yer. and bootfns q the ida u going
g TIE expense q draining land Which
had > good natural drainage: and most
q the sod 81 hts rolling land i nov ia
thetfuM q Mexico, and All Of his Land
WAS covered with that which VII stick
-4n ample farm mortkage. with at
least hall dozen percussion clauses.
Farmer B., Who had been sFuused By
his neighDor A. faunting him with haf-
ing got the better Of him in exchange
q lands, was IN very prosperous con-
dition- His lands we're al thoroughly
drained and he bad added farm 70 farm,
alternating with cloves, grass, and eHi-
tlyated crops. NoblecAtfIe, horses, hogs
and sheep grandiy oFnamented hts farm
and made the landscape blossom with
prosperity.
The lesson Of these two farms Is that
ali land should be tile-drAined. And Il
Is probable, taking everything into con
aldaTafi0u, that Is Is more important 70
drain rolling land than level, damp
land. The dFat, without such improve
Eenfs - eventually and inevitably
doomed 70 barrenness and sterilify.
80 long as the Surplus water runs OF
on the surface, whether in grass OF cul-
tiyated crops, il Is annually deprived Of
It's richest soil, and retains little or none
Of the ammonia or other fertilixing
gases Of the atmosphere.
There Is great ezrnestness with writ
ers in papers and books for grading up
all classes Of stock. The farmers, how
ever, as wen as their farms. need far
more grading up. When this i accom-
plished, the improvement Of stock viii
follow Is naturally as the sunshine and
fertilizing rains Of spring bring forth
vegetation. One farmer laughs at the
idea that the air and clouds pour down
nourishment for the growing crops, or
that il Is his duty 10 prepare bis land
to absorb those rich deposits, instead
Of letting them be carried away ON the
surface by the water which comes down
copiously with every thunder shower.
Others have learned, and are awaiting
themselves of the knowledge, that
chemistry Is their best friend, and that
their farms and the air above them IS
q chemical laboratory which always
works for their benefit or injury, but
which can always be controlled so as
20 utilize the valuable forces with which
nature has surrounded them and their
farms. Men must first be graded up,
and then they will soon grade up their
farms. Then men, farms and ele-
ments win work together TO bring
happiness and prosperity 70 the human
family.
Al Of our lands-eyen our rich and
fertile prairies Of Iowa-win become
worn out and exhausted. The mullen
fields and sassafras barrens Of the South
were once as fertile as those Of the
Northwest are now. But continued
cropping and the wash Of annual rains
have accomplished the work of de-
struction. Their soil is washed away
and the fields are cut up with deep and
impossible ravines, until they are near
~, II not hopeiessly, beyond redemp-
ton. Without tile drainage or rolling
prairies our richer soils viii travel the
same road, into our creeks, thence to
the rivers and 70 the Gulf of Mexico.
Tile drainage alone can save even this
country from barrenness.
The rains, we are informed, whence
they coEneth, thither they return
again" But not so with the fertile
soil of our farms. When once washed
to the Gulf, il will never return again
until the heavens are rolled together
as a scroll.